Wakashoyo
| placeofbirth =Tokyo, Japan | dateofdeath = | placeofdeath = | height = | weight = | heya =Futagoyama | rank = | record =496-444-57 | debut =May, 1981 | highestrank =Sekiwake (May, 1993) | retireddate =November, 1997 | yushos =1 (Juryo) 1 (Sandanme) | prizes =Fighting Spirit (2) | goldstars = | blogurl = | weburl = | email = | update =August 2008 }} Wakashoyo (born 8 March 1966 as Yoichi Babaguchi) is a mixed martial arts fighter and former sumo wrestler from Japan. Career Although born in Chiba, he grew up in Nakano, Tokyo. He joined sumo in 1981, wrestling out of Futagoyama stable. He first entered the top makuuchi division in 1991 and made his sanyaku debut in March 1993 from komusubi rank. Unusually, he came through with a winning record (which included a win over new yokozuna Akebono), and was awarded his second successive special prize for Fighting Spirit. After the tournament he was promoted to sekiwake, which was the highest rank he was to achieve. He retired in November 1997 and became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Otowayama. However, the retirement of his former stablemate, Wakanohana in March 2000 meant that his elder name was needed by the former Takamisugi (who had been borrowing Wakanohana's), and Wakashoyo had to leave the sumo world. He became a MMA fighter for the HERO'S organisation, fighting under his old shikona. (He uses the Roman alphabet, appearing as WAKASHOYO rather than using the Japanese characters. The Sumo Association requested that Konishiki do the same thing in his post-sumo career). His MMA record is one win, one draw and four losses. He has also participated in K-1, where he has one draw and three losses. In 2008, he began using his real name, Yoichi Babaguchi, as his fighting name. Sumo top division record }} Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts record |- |19 March 2005 |Loss |0-1 |Choi Hong-man |K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul |TKO |Round 1, 1:40 |- |6 July 2005 |Loss |0-2 |Peter Aerts |K-1 Hero's 2 |TKO (Punches) |Round 1, 1:36 (MMA) |- |13 November 2005 |Draw |0-2-1 |Mr Kamikaze |Ryukyu Kamikaze Spirit, Okinawa |No Decision |Round 3 |- |11 December 2005 |Draw |0-2-2 |Soichi Nishida |GCM D.O.G. 4 |Draw |Round 2, 5:00 (MMA) |- |3 May 2006 |Loss |0-3-2 |Kazuhiro Hamanaka |K-1 Hero's 5 |Submission (Kimura) |Round 1, 1:22 (MMA) |- |17 February 2007 |Loss |0-4-2 |Kengo Watanabe |GCM Cage Force EX Western Bound |TKO |Round 1, 0:20 (MMA) |- |16 September 2007 |Loss |0-5-2 |Gen Shiyo |New Japan Kickboxing Assc Titans Neos II |KO |Round 1, 0:54 |- |22 December 2007 |Loss |0-6-2 |Atsushi Hamada |Dragon Moero |KO |Round 1, 1:55 |- |29 March 2008 |Win |1-6-2 |Kintaro Tsurukame |DEEP Megatron GP 2008 Opening Round |Submission (Punches) |Round 1, 1:22 (MMA) |- |24 May 2008 |Loss |1-7-2 |Yusuke Kawaguchi |Deep Megatron GP 2008 Semifinal |TKO (Punches) |Round 1, 0:16 (MMA) |- See also *List of past sumo wrestlers References External links *Sumo record *MMA record Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese sumo wrestlers Category:Japanese mixed martial artists Category:People from Chiba (city) Category:People from Tokyo ko:와카쇼요 ja:馬場口洋一